No wonder, no wonder that upstart cried his heart out.
Staying alive is truly difficult.
It turns out that salvation is a two-way street; those on the outside do their best to save you, but you, too, must do your best to save yourself. Perhaps that is the only way to find a glimmer of hope?
Jiang Younian felt cowardly. Though he was an orphan with no one to worry about and had made his own decisions since childhood, facing a life-or-death choice now, he could not summon the same solitary courage as before.
"Team up with me. I’ll protect you. Don't be afraid."
Xie Nanzhou’s resolute gaze didn't seem feigned, but did two people who had just met really deserve such a promise?
Jiang Younian felt a warmth rising in his chest, something churning within him.
Having grown up in an orphanage, he had been ostracized and isolated since he was small. He had few friends and had never been protected by anyone so firmly—not even with a mere promise.
"Big Brother, please protect me too!"
A head shoved itself between the two, shattering the poignant, tear-jerking atmosphere instantly.
Xie Nanzhou’s eyes, previously fixed firmly on Jiang Younian, turned cold.
The one who had pushed in was the same upstart who had been sobbing his heart out in the carriage behind them just moments ago. He looked quite young, yet he was dressed in an impossibly staid and old-fashioned way.
"Big Brother, protect me! As long as I don't die, I’ll give you money once we get out—lots and lots of money!"
The little upstart clung to Xie Nanzhou’s arm, gritting his teeth as he promised rewards.
Xie Nanzhou yanked his arm away and sat further back.
Jiang Younian shrugged from the sidelines and silently turned his head toward the window. Before long, he drifted off into a hazy sleep.
"Jiang Younian. Jiang Younian. Go gather some supplies; we’re getting ready to get off the train."
In his sleep, Jiang Younian was woken by Xie Nanzhou. He instinctively took the black backpack handed to him.
"Oh, okay."
Jiang Younian answered groggily and packed some emergency food at the empty service counter.
When he returned to the carriage after gathering the items, the space and time beneath his feet seemed to shift rapidly. One moment it was the carriage floor, the next it was the muddy ground of the forest, covered in bloody footprints.
He shook his head hard. When he looked up again, the carriage had transformed into that very forest.
He looked around in a panic, a cold dread rising in his heart. "How did I come back here?"
"Xie Nanzhou? Xie Nanzhou?"
In this place, he instinctively called out the name of the person he barely knew, yet who gave him peace of mind.
There was no response; only his own voice echoed eerily through the mountains.
Not far ahead lay the lake from his previous dream, and bloody footprints remained on the muddy path.
Jiang Younian remembered everything that had happened in his dream. He had just been about to ask Xie Nanzhou about the dream, but that flashy upstart had interrupted him.
His eyes drifted involuntarily toward the pitch-black water.
He remembered the orphanage caretaker telling him when he was young: clear water is shallow, green water is deep, black water is an abyss, blue water is vast, and yellow water is swift.
This lake was terrifyingly black; there was no telling how deep it was.
An uncontrollable chill shot from the soles of his feet up his spine, and Jiang Younian felt every hair on his body stand on end.
"Are you here to take me home?"
A ghostly female voice suddenly descended from above the forest. Jiang Younian looked up in a panic, searching, but there was nothing there.
"I am here."
The voice sounded again, and Jiang Younian whipped his head around.
There, standing on the pitch-black water, was half a person. Yes, just half—the other half was likely beneath the surface.
The lake was so deep; how could she stand on it without sinking?
She truly was not human.
Jiang Younian didn't dare to breathe; he braced himself, paralyzed with fear.
The figure was none other than the girl he had seen in his dream. He recognized her by her black padded jacket and the length of her hair.
This time, he wasn't seeing her back, but her front—he could tell by the zipper of her jacket.
Her black hair was soaked, matted like spider silk, plastered all over her face. She looked like prey wrapped in cobwebs, constantly writhing and tightening.
Jiang Younian took a massive step back, terrified, wanting to scream but unable to make a sound.
"Are you here to take me home?"
Jiang Younian turned pale as the half-person in the water slowly approached, repeating the same question.
"Are you here to take me home?"
"No, no, no! Don't come over here!"
Jiang Younian finally found his voice amidst his extreme terror, his lips trembling as he tried to stop the figure from advancing.
"Are you here to take me home?"
The figure remained unmoved, still asking the same question. With every repetition, she drew closer.
Seeing the ghost, her face obscured by black hair, about to step onto the shore, Jiang Younian squeezed his eyes shut and shouted, "Yes, yes, yes! I'll take you home!"
The figure reaching the shore paused, then stopped moving.
Jiang Younian let out a breath, thinking his words had worked.
But the next moment, the black shadow in the water surged forward with lightning speed, climbing onto the shore using both hands and feet. She pressed her body directly onto Jiang Younian.
It was like a mountain crushing down; Jiang Younian could barely breathe. He tried to push the shadow away, but his body felt as if it had been cursed, unable to move.
The female ghost lowered her head toward his face. Droplets of water fell onto his skin—cold and clammy, like a snake crawling over him, waiting for the final, fatal strike.
Jiang Younian saw her face inches from his own; he could see the pale skin through the gaps in her hair. He caught a glimpse of a cloudy, vertical pupil. His breath caught in his throat; he forgot how to breathe.
The writhing hair moved across the ghost's face like maggots.
Just as Jiang Younian thought he was doomed to be devoured by the ghost, his body suddenly felt light, and he could breathe again.
He stood up, but the black figure was gone. The lake in the distance was as smooth as a mirror, without a ripple.
Only an ethereal female voice echoed in the void: "You promised me, you promised me."
It felt as if he had been held underwater for a long time and finally pulled back to the surface. Jiang Younian jolted awake, gasping for air.
"The carriage, the carriage—I'm back."
Seeing the interior of the carriage instead of the dark forest and the lake, Jiang Younian panted, his heart still racing.
"What’s wrong?"
A familiar, comforting voice sounded beside him. Jiang Younian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and, feeling a wave of relief, turned to see Xie Nanzhou holding a bag.
Perhaps the near-death experience had given him the courage to be outgoing; he reached out and hugged the man he had just met.
"Xie Nanzhou, it’s so good to see you."
Jiang Younian held onto him, starting to recount the terror of his dream.
But gradually, he felt that the arms holding Xie Nanzhou were cold and damp. He looked down and saw his hands covered in water.
And why did Xie Nanzhou feel so small and thin?
Jiang Younian lowered his gaze, his chin resting against... a black padded jacket.
A padded jacket?
A black one.
Alarm bells rang in Jiang Younian’s heart, his hands and feet turning cold.
He remembered clearly that Xie Nanzhou was wearing a thin Zhongshan suit.
So, who was he holding?
"Perhaps," a cold, watery female voice whispered in his ear, "that wasn't a dream."